I'd like to tell you all this is for my English 11 Class, and it's an analysis of the arguments and purpose of Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" sermon. The only requirement was that it was 350 words long, my essay is 421. I'd really like to hear what you all think of the paper and the sermon as it was one of the more major works of the First Great Awakening. Thanks.
Jonathan Edwards was born into a family of devout Puritans in East Windsor, Connecticut in 1703. He had learned Latin, Greek, and Hebrew by 12, and was enrolled in Yale at age 13. Edwards would be the valedictorian of his graduating class, and would soon begin working for his grandfather Soloman Stoddard. Stoddard’s congregation in Northhampton, Massachusetts was one of the most wealthy and prestigious in the puritan world. Two years later he would take over the mantle for his grandfather, and with this new opportunity came one of the most powerful and influential positions in colonial America.
The key to the understanding of Jonathan Edwards’ sermons is to understand their purpose, and arguments. Many of Edwards’ early works displayed an appeal to logic and reason, but he is best known for his “fire and brimstone” sermons that highlighted the need for a “rebirth” in the eyes of God. His fiery rhetoric caught on, amongst the colonists and he was the leader and proprietor of the movement known as the “Great Awakening”. This movement led to a resurgence in Puritan ideas and the growth of “conservative” actors in colonial churches.
On, the 8th of July, 1741 Jonathan Edwards would give his most famous sermon, remembered almost 300 years later, by students and religious devotees alike the sermon was titled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. It would be seen, as one of the iconic orations of the Great Awakening, the argument made by Edwards was one against the sin and wickedness, and for the rebirth of man in the blood of Christ. Edwards built this argument by truly ingraining his points into the audience. The basis of the sermon is based on key points, referred to as considerations, the widest arching of these is that God may cast the wicked into hell. Next, if God were to permit it, Satan could rise and swallow the sinners and wicked without remorse. The final major point is, the only possibility for redemption is the acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice and the rebirth in the holy water and blood of the lamb. Edwards sermon lays out the path forward to redemption in the eyes of God, with it also relaying the fact that salvation is not easy to acquire, but requires sacrifice and the living of a life devoted to Christ. These ideas make the sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” a noteworthy piece of not just Puritan theology, but of the societal and cultural direction of the Great Awakening.
